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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. last — finally
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. last — final
  7. spring — of water
  8. march — the month
  9. row — to paddle
  10. spring — a coil
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. march — the month
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. row — a line
  19. pass — a permit
  20. last — to go on
  21. date — the fruit
  22. spring — the season
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. straw — dry grass

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com